Original Articles Pneumothorax in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infected Patients José A.Cabrera-Cordero,a Radamés I. Adefna-Pérez,b Armando Leal-Mursulí,b Juan Antonio Castellanos-González,b Francoise T. Izquierdo-Lara,b and Suset Cabrera-Alfonsoa a Servicio de Cuidados Intensivos, Hospital Clínico Quirúrgico Docente Dr Miguel Enríquez, Ciudad de la Habana, Cuba Servicio de Cirugía General, Grupo de Cirugía Torácica, Hospital Clínico Quirúrgico Docente Dr Miguel Enríquez, Ciudad de la Habana, Cuba b Abstract Introduction. The respiratory system still continues to be a common place which deteriorates in HIV patients. Among the signs and symptoms, is the occurrence of a pneumothorax due to trauma and infections and is a cause of aggravation for these patients. The present study attempts to identify and characterise the behaviour of a group of variables in HIV patients with this complication. Material and method. An observational, descriptive case series study was carried out.The desired variables were obtained from clinical records. Results. Of the total number, 91.67% were males, and the mean age was 32.17 years. The main causes of pneumothorax were infections, particularly due to Pneumocystis jirovecii and deep venous catheterisation. A persistent statistically significant air leak was present in 33.3% of patients and two cases of pleural sepsis. Four patients died, all with acute respiratory failure and bacterial bronchopneumonia. Conclusions. The majority were males in the third decade of life, AIDS patients. The main causes of the pneumothorax were infections and catheterisation of the subclavian vein. Immunodepression played a significant prognostic role in the progression and outcome of the patient. Minimum pleurotomy continues to be the first treatment option in these patients, due to their precarious general state which contraindicates a major procedure.The most frequent complication was the persistent air leak, being a significant indicator of a poor prognosis in the progress of these patients. Correspondence: Dr. R.I. Adefna-Pérez. Santa Catalina 162 e/c Heredia y Saco. CP 10500. Ciudad de la Habana. Cuba. E-mail: radames@infomed.sld.cu Manuscript accepted April 8, 2008; accepted for publication May 8, 2008. Causes of death such as acute respiratory failure and bilateral bronchopneumonia prevailed. Key words: HIV. Pneumothorax. Pneumocystis jirovecii. Pleurotomy. Venous catheterisation. Complications. NEUMOTÓRAX EN PACIENTES INFECTADOS CON EL VIRUS DE LA INMUNODEFICIENCIA HUMANA Introducción. El sistema respiratorio continúa siendo un sitio común de deterioro en los pacientes con el virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana (VIH). Entre sus manifestaciones está el neumotórax por causas traumáticas e infecciosas y que es una causa de agravamiento para estos pacientes. El presente estudio pretende identificar y caracterizar el comportamiento de un conjunto de variables en pacientes con VIH con esta complicación. Material y método. Se realizó un estudio observacional descriptivo del tipo de serie de casos. De los registros clínicos se obtuvieron las variables deseadas. Resultados. El 91,67% eran varones, la media de edad fue 32,17 años. Las principales causas del neumotórax fueron infecciosas, particularmente neumonía por Pneumocystis jirovecii y cateterismo venoso profundo. El 33,3% de los pacientes presentó fuga de aire persistente (con significación estadística) y 2 casos, sepsis pleural. Fallecieron 4 pacientes, todos con insuficiencia respiratoria aguda y bronconeumonía bacteriana. Conclusiones. Fueron mayoría los varones en la tercera década de la vida, enfermos de sida. Las principales causas de neumotórax fueron las infecciosas y la cateterización de la vena subclavia. La inmunodeficiencia tuvo un papel pronóstico relevante en la evolución y el desenlace del enfermo. La pleurostomía mínima sigue siendo la primera opción de tratamiento en estos pacientes debido a un precario estaCir Esp. 2008;84(4):221-5 221 Cabrera-Cordero JA et al. Pneumothorax in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infected Patients do general que contraindica un proceder mayor. La complicación más frecuente fue la fuga de aire persistente, que fue significativa como factor de mal pronóstico en la evolución de los pacientes. Prevalecieron, como causas de muerte, la insuficiencia respiratoria aguda y la bronconeumonía bacteriana bilateral. 2. To identify the etiology of the pneumothorax and the therapeutic care for the patients in the group. 3. To determine some of the complications and causes of death in the group studied. 4. To identify the bad prognosis factors in the development of the patients studied. Palabras clave: VIH. Neumotórax. Pneumocistys jirovecii. Pleurotomía. Cateterismo venoso. Complicaciones. Material and Method Introduction In 1981, the frequent appearance of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (previously Pneumocystis carinii) in homosexual males led to the description and recognition of AIDS and to the subsequent identification of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Today there are 40 million people affected by the virus worldwide, a number which is in constant increase.1,2 The Caribbean is the second most affected region in the world, although Cuba has a prevalence of less than 0.2%.3 Cuba is an exception to the global figures due to the major Cuban Programme which is in place to combat this epidemic. Free access to antiretroviral therapies is one of the many important aspects4 offered by the programme. Currently the HIV epidemic is on the increase in Cuba, although on a reduced scale. The annual number of cases has increased almost 5 times between 1995 and 2000.5 The respiratory system continues to be the worst affected area in people with HIV. In more than 90% of autopsies carried out on patients who died from HIV, pulmonary disorders had played a significant role in the process leading up to death.6,7 The appearance of pneumothorax is a part of this respiratory morbidity. The main causes are trauma and infections originating from tuberculosis and atypical mycobacteria, bacterial pneumonia, and ruptures of septic pulmonary infarcts.8 However, the most important cause of pulmonary infection is P jirovecii which causes pulmonary destruction and cavitation with the development of blisters. Pneumothorax develops due to the rupture of a subpleural cavity as a cause of necrosis of the area, leading in turn to the patient’s deterioration. Since the beginning of the epidemic our hospital has been majorly linked to the care of HIV/AIDS patients with surgical illnesses and it has established itself as the reference centre for this disease. As the number of affected people increased, more people were admitted to hospital with HIV and pneumothorax which made us realise that the therapeutic and medical-surgical evolution of the disorder was radically different to the development of pneumothorax in immunocompetent patients.We did not know enough about the subject which is what prompted us to go on to analyse it further so as to find answers. Our general objective was to characterise the behaviour of a group of selected variables in HIV-positive patients diagnosed with pneumothorax.The specific objectives were: 1. To describe the clinical, epidemiological, and immunological characteristics of the patients studied. 222 Cir Esp. 2008;84(4):221-5 Descriptive, observational case studies were carried out on HIV positive patients with pneumothorax who were admitted to the intensive care unit of the Surgery-University Hospital Miguel Enriquez between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2006. The criteria considered were: patients infected with HIV, over 15 years of age, with pneumothorax of any etiology whether accompanied by pleural effusion or not. Selected variables: gender, age, time between infection with HIV and pneumothorax, previous clinical status, opportunistic diseases, immunological state at the time of pneumothorax and its causes, operations carried out, postoperative complications, mortality and cause of death. Two patients were excluded from the tests as they had traumatic pneumothorax from an injury caused by a bladed weapon. Results Over the period of time studied, 12 HIV positive patients with pneumothorax were admitted to hospital and therefore met the criteria for the test. This represents 6.89% of the total of HIV-positive patients admitted to hospital during the same period of time. Ninety-one point six percent (11) of patients were male. The average age was 32 (range, 22-52).Ten patients (83.3%) had AIDS and 2 (17.7%) were seropositive. The average time of HIV infection was 5 years. Overall, the patients studied presented 29 opportunistic illnesses, 9 of which were respiratory in 75% of cases. Of the 12 patients, 6 had secondary spontaneous pneumothorax and 6 had traumatic pneumothorax due to central venous catheterisation. Of those, 10 patients presented a pneumothorax of 70% or more, and 2 cases had of 40%. A minimum pleurectomy was carried out for all of them, 8 were high and 4 were low. The procedure was repeated in 2 patients due to obstruction of the chest tube. Most patients had CD4 T-cell counts between 200 and 459 cells/µL (n=7; 58.3%). Seven postoperative complications were recorded in this group; 5 patients survived; and 2 died. There were 5 patients in the group with a CD4 T-cell count of less than 200 lymphocytes (41.66%), 2 postoperative complications, 3 patients survived, and 2 died (Table 1). Persistent air leaks were the most serious postoperative complications in 4 patients; which was very related to the death of all 4, with an average of 10 days of aspiration, and related to this, pleural sepsis in 2 of the deceased. Other complications were repeated pulmonary collapse, obstruction of the tube chest, and subcutaneous emphysema in 2 patients. Average pleural aspiration was 6 days (Table 2). Cabrera-Cordero JA et al. Pneumothorax in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infected Patients TABLE 1. Concentration of CD4 T-Lymphocytes and Patient’s Development CD4 T-Lymphocyte Count 200-499 Cells/µL <200 Cells/µL Total Development No. (%) Average Postoperative Complications Survived Deceased 7 (58.3) 5 (41.6) 12 (100) 359 102 — 2 7 — 5 3 8 2 2 4 Of the 12 patients studied, 4 died; lethality was 33.3%. It was seen that acute respiratory insufficiency due to bilateral, bronchial, bacterial pneumonia was the main cause of all the deaths, aggravated by other factors such as pulmonary fibroemphysema in 1 case, bronchial asthma in another, and purulent pleurisy in the remaining 2 cases. There were 7 postoperative complications recorded in the group of deceased subjects and 5 in those who survived. TABLE 2. Relationship Between Postoperative Complications and Death Complications No. (%)a Deceased, No. (%)b Persistent air leak Pleural empyema Persistent pneumothorax Obstruction of tube chest Subcutaneous emphysema Death 4 (33.3) 2 (16.6) 2 (16.6) 2 (16.6) 2 (16.6) 4 (33.3) 4 (100) 2 (50) — — — — a Refers to the total number of patients. Refers to the total number of deceased. b Discussion The appearance of pneumothorax, despite being a known complication in patients with HIV, is not a frequent occurrence over the course of the illness, as it only occurs in 2%-5% of the overall total of cases.10-12 The advances made in antiviral therapy have helped to decrease this eventuality.13,14 Our study included 12 patients, although pneumothorax could only be directly attributed to respiratory disease in 6 of them. The figure of hospital admissions due to pneumothorax in our investigation is similar to other reports.11,12 The values oscillate between 2% and 6% of those hospitalised.11 The relationship of gender-age variables and the appearance of pneumothorax coincide with the actual epidemiology of HIV infection in our county, with the highest frequency occurring in males aged between 30 and 49 years old. It is precisely in this age group where there is a higher risk of infection by the virus and, often these individuals become ill with AIDS early in their lives.3 There are not many studies which emphasise the significance of traumatic pneumothorax, and iatrogenic pneumothorax in particular, in HIV infected patients with severe disorders who undergo aggressive diagnostic techniques and therapies carrying a high risk of mortality, in comparison with patient groups who are not affected by these disorders. In our study there was an equal number of patients with traumatic pneumothorax and spontaneous pneumothorax. The spontaneous pneumothorax which occurred was always secondary, mainly due to opportunistic respiratory disorders, which occur when HIV infection is advanced. Necrosis, cavitation and rupture produced by many of the germs are due to this. Traumatic or iatrogenic pneumothorax always resulted from subclavian puncture. Although this is a known complication with this approach,15 the incidence tends to be higher in these cases basically due to severe dehydration, which requires a more demanding technique, and, above all, a diseased lung, since it is more susceptible to becoming lesioned. It is important to point out that there were no cases of tuberculosis, which is one of the problems that does frequently affect AIDS patients.16,17 Previous use of parenteral or inhaled drugs was not identified either, which is usually associated with the development of pneumothorax. The patients’ immune state, calculated using the CD4 Tlymphocytes value,18 attempts to relate a weak immune system with the actual appearance of pneumothorax, the patient’s progress and the end result of the process. There is an indirect relationship between immune deficiency and incidence of pneumothorax which is relative to the appearance of opportunistic respiratory infections which are undoubtedly favoured by immunodeficiency. However, the implications are strongly indicative that development implies a relationship between pneumothorax and immune depression. In our work, although definitive conclusions cannot be reached due to the small number of patients who were studied, most of the complications occurred in those patients in the group with higher immunodeficiency and the higher percentage of deaths also occurred in this group. Not only this, but the complications were also more serious for this group, such as pleural empyema, strokes, and persistent air leaks. All of this could mean that pneumothorax is produced in an advanced stage of the illness, both for the group with spontaneous pneumothorax and the iatrogenic group, and the state of the lung, regardless of the cause of the pneumothorax, is an important variable in development after surgical treatment. The most serious occurrences directly related with the illness were persistent air leaks, defined as air leaks which last for more than 7 days. Persistent air leaks occurred more frequently in patients with HIV than in patients not infected with the virus, both in the spontaneous and traumatic pneumothorax groups. This higher frequency is related to the state of the underlying pulmonary parenchyma which is generally deteriorated, inflamed, friable, or necrotic due to the infectious process, which then complicates achieving re-expansion and successful aerostasia. Cir Esp. 2008;84(4):221-5 223 Cabrera-Cordero JA et al. Pneumothorax in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infected Patients It is known that pneumothorax in patients with HIV have a high level of therapeutic failures, which leads to certain options which have been validated in other situations, such as puncture or suction of the pneumothorax,19 particularly in the iatrogenic pneumothorax, not being recommended here.The initial indicated therapeutic intervention will always be early and forceful; consisting of minimum pleurotomy and remission in specialised centres.20 The immediate administration of a sclerosis agent into the thoracic drainage tube is another option for patients who want to avoid more serious surgery at all costs due to the higher surgical risks.20,21 The differences in development that exist between spontaneous pneumothorax and those produced by invasive manoeuvres are known: the first type requires longer drainage time for recuperation.22 In this group the suction time was always more in our group, also more complications and higher lethality occurred. If pulmonary re-expansion is not achieved, other treatments should be tried. A second pleurotomy could be an option, especially when tube obstruction is suspected, but generally this is also insufficient. In these cases, it is advisable to use a videothoracoscopy to which a chemical irritant is added to favour pleurodesis, especially asbestos-free, sterile talc which is the cheapest and most efficient of the available sclerosis agents.21,23 Although a recent systematic assessment24 puts forward a long-term reoccurrence index of pneumothorax which is 4 times higher with videothoracoscopy in comparison with open surgery, if these results were certain, and without considering the possible methodological errors of the study in question,25 this may not be a limitation for patients with a low survival index. If the problem is a pleural infection or even more serious, the appearance of bronchial-pleural fistula, prognosis is more serious. In general, thoracotomy is impractical given the severity and weakness of the patient. Less aggressive procedures such as the Eloesser window for pleural empyema or use of the Heimlich valve for prolonged air leaks26 are alternatives to the usual treatments. In our patients, a thoracotomy was never carried out as the general state of the patients impeded such a procedure, even as a last resort. We always tried drainage with a chest tube. In the literature consulted, mortality was between 30.8% and 34%,12,17,26 which coincides with what we have reported (33.3%).The main causes are related to pulmonary infection, which in turn causes concomitant respiratory infections, which would explain the high percentage of bacterial and bilateral bronchopneumonia in our study. In more than 90% of the autopsies carried out in patients with HIV, there is pulmonary participation in the process which leads to death,6 a fact which we have also checked. In general, complications and failures are to be expected after surgical treatment of pneumothorax in patients with HIV. Conclusions – AIDS was most common in men in their thirties – The main causes of pneumothorax were infections and catheterisation of the subclavian vein – Immunodeficiency had a relevant prognostic role in the development and outcome of the patient – Minimum pleurostomy continues to be the first treatment 224 Cir Esp. 2008;84(4):221-5 option in these patients due to their precarious general state of well being which therefore contraindicates a more intense procedure – The most frequent complication was persistent air leak which was a significant factor of bad prognosis in the patients’ development – Acute respiratory insufficiency due to bilateral bacterial bronchopneumonia and pleural sepsis were the main causes of death – Recommendation: catheterisation of the subclavian vein should only be carried out as a last resort, after having exhausted any other possibilities for venous access, due to the high risk of pneumothorax and the serious complications which can occur from the process References 1. 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